Chapter 87: Echoes of Oheyo (Part 5)
The room was silent.
Cold.
Artificial.
Rows of glowing devices lined the walls.
Magic circles rotated slowly across glass containers.
Strange machinery hummed quietly in the background.
And at the center of it all—
Sat Brennan.
He looked up.
And smiled.
A tired smile.
A defeated smile.
"You guys really came."
Alice froze.
For a moment she couldn't speak.
Then she marched forward.
Freed him.
And punched him.
Bam.
Brennan nearly fell off his feet.
"Ouch."
"YOU IDIOT!"
Alice shouted.
Raj nodded immediately.
"You deserved that."
Taai crossed his arms.
"You definitely deserved that."
Akari simply nodded.
Chocomint looked relieved.
Brennan rubbed his cheek.
"...Fair."
For a brief moment—
Everything felt normal again.
Then Alice noticed something.
His arms.
Strange patterns ran beneath his skin.
Like glowing veins.
Magic circuits.
Everywhere.
"What happened to you?"
Alice asked quietly.
The smile disappeared.
Brennan looked down.
Then sighed.
"A lot."
The room grew quiet again.
He slowly stood.
And they immediately realized just how much worse things were.
The circuits weren't only on his arms.
His neck.
His chest.
His hands.
Even parts of his face.
The patterns glowed faintly beneath the skin.
Like something had been carved into him.
"What did they do to you?"
Raj whispered.
Brennan laughed.
A humorless laugh.
"Research."
Nobody liked that answer.
Not one bit.
"What kind of research?"
Taai asked.
Brennan hesitated.
Then spoke.
"They wanted to know if immortality could be replicated."
The room froze.
"...What?"
Alice asked.
Before Brennan could answer—
A voice spoke behind them.
"Technically speaking."
"That isn't entirely accurate."
Everyone turned.
And saw Vaan.
Standing in the doorway.
Alone.
No guards.
No soldiers.
No weapons.
Just Vaan.
The Emperor of Oheyo.
Looking mildly disappointed.
"I would've preferred."
Vaan said.
"That you remained unaware."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then Taai stepped forward.
"What did you do to him?"
Vaan sighed.
Like a teacher forced to explain something obvious.
"Research."
Taai looked ready to punch him.
Vaan ignored him.
"Drifters possess many abnormalities."
"They do not age."
"They do not die from disease."
"They recover from injuries more efficiently."
"And most importantly."
"They retain a stable existence regardless of time."
He looked toward Brennan.
"So naturally."
"I became curious."
The silence deepened.
Curious.
He said it so casually.
Like he wasn't talking about a person.
Like Brennan was merely a tool.
A test subject.
"What were you researching?"
Alice asked.
Vaan's expression remained calm.
"Memory."
Nobody understood.
Seeing this—
Vaan continued.
"Memory is identity."
"If one's memories are copied."
"And transferred."
"Would the resulting individual still be the same person?"
Nobody spoke.
Because the question itself felt wrong.
Very wrong.
Vaan continued anyway.
"Furthermore."
"If a clone is created using materials native to this world."
"And memories from a drifter are implanted into that clone."
"Would that clone possess immortality?"
The room became deathly silent.
Raj slowly backed away.
"What..."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Vaan looked genuinely confused.
"As I said."
"Research."
The word sounded monstrous now.
Not scientific.
Not intellectual.
Monstrous.
Brennan finally spoke.
"He kidnapped drifters."
Silence.
"He brought them here."
"Used them."
"Experimented on them."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
Alice stared at Vaan.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Praying.
That Brennan was wrong.
Vaan simply nodded.
"Correct."
No denial.
No excuse.
No justification.
Just acceptance.
"As I stated."
"It was necessary."
The room erupted.
"NECESSARY?!"
Alice shouted.
Taai took another step forward.
Raj looked horrified.
Even Akari's normally calm expression cracked.
Only Brennan remained still.
Because he'd already accepted the truth.
Vaan looked around.
Then spoke calmly.
"Oheyo exists because of that research."
Everyone froze.
Vaan spread his arms.
"The towers."
"The infrastructure."
"The magical advancements."
"The technology."
"The discoveries."
"Everything."
His eyes remained emotionless.
"Every major advancement in Oheyo was built upon knowledge obtained from drifters."
Nobody responded.
Because they couldn't.
The city they'd admired.
The city they'd trusted.
The city they thought represented humanity's greatest achievements.
Had been built upon suffering.
Built upon stolen lives.
Built upon people who never had a choice.
"You monster."
Alice whispered.
Vaan simply looked at her.
Then sighed.
"Perhaps."
The answer somehow made it worse.
Because he wasn't pretending to be a hero.
He knew exactly what he was.
And continued anyway.
Then he looked at the group.
And said something that made everyone's blood run cold.
"I would've preferred."
"That you stayed silent."
The room fell silent.
Vaan continued.
"And waited for your turn."
Nobody breathed.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even blinked.
Their turn.
Their turn for what?
Then they understood.
The kidnappings.
The disappearances.
The missing drifters.
The hidden records.
Everything.
They were never exceptions.
Never friends.
Never citizens.
They were future experiments.
Future subjects.
Future materials.
Alice felt sick.
Raj looked ready to throw up.
Taai clenched his fists.
Akari cursed.
Chocomint looked terrified.
And Brennan smiled.
A sad smile.
A resigned smile.
Then he stepped forward.
And the circuits across his body ignited.
The entire room lit up.
Glowing blue.
Glowing gold.
Glowing white.
Power surged through the facility.
Machines exploded.
Walls cracked.
Magic circles shattered.
Everyone stared.
Brennan looked at them.
And smiled.
The same smile from the village.
The same smile from the beginning.
The smile of the person who always protected everyone else.
"Run."
Alice's eyes widened.
"No."
"RUN."
The facility trembled.
The circuits across Brennan's body burned brighter.
Brighter.
Brighter.
Like a star preparing to explode.
And for the first time—
Vaan's expression changed.
Slightly.
Because even he hadn't expected this.
And the escape from Oheyo—
Finally began.